Victory! Postal bosses to tear up fraudsters’ letters
THE Royal Mail will destroy millions of postal frauds sent to the UK by foreign criminals after the scandal was exposed by a Daily Mail investigation.
Bosses have pledged to ‘block and impound’ the vile scams, which convince elderly and vulnerable people to send money to conmen.
And when postmen suspect letters sent from the UK are carrying cash for foreign fraudsters, they will intercept them – so the money can be returned to the victims and their families.
Royal Mail will also contact any homes they suspect are being targeted and send warnings by special delivery – so they know the recipients have received them.
The crackdown is a major victory for the Daily Mail, which exposed six months ago how Royal Mail was making millions delivering postal scams. These included letters persuading victims to buy unlicensed medicines, or conning them into thinking they had won a big prize that they could claim by sending money in the post.
Some contained messages from fake clairvoyants, stating the recipient had to send them money to ward off evil spirits.
Since the Mail revealed the scandal, the Royal Mail has stopped 730,000 scam items from getting into people’s homes.
Last night, Marilyn Baldwin, founder of anti-scam charity Think Jessica, said: ‘This is a major breakthrough and I’m absolutely delighted. This is all down to the Daily Mail and the families of victims who have been brave enough to speak out.’
Campaigner and broadcaster Dame Esther Rantzen, who has investigated postal frauds, said: ‘I’m delighted Royal Mail is taking action to stamp out these appalling crimes against the most vulnerable people. I’ve been horrified by the number of elderly people who’ve been victims of these fraudsters. Many of us felt Royal Mail should have been protecting them.’
In October, the Mail Investigations Unit revealed how conmen were using the Royal Mail’s lucrative bulk mail contracts to flood the UK with scam letters.
The letters targeted elderly and vulnerable people, including those with dementia.
Reporters tracked down the scammers to a ski resort in Canada, where they had convened to trade
‘This is a major breakthrough’
‘suckers lists’ of the most vulnerable and boasted of ‘ripping off’ their ‘suggestible’ victims.
The fraudsters were able to get Royal Mail branding on their envelopes and take advantage of the company’s discounted bulk postage rates when sending the scam letters to the UK from abroad. Some said this made it easy to gain the trust of their British victims.
Postal workers also told reporters of their anger at having to deliver letters they knew were designed to scam vulnerable people.
After we published the investigation, the Prime Minister warned Royal Mail it must ‘do more’ to stop fraudsters targeting the elderly.
In the weeks that followed, Royal Mail published a new code of practice that it demanded all its suppliers sign up to. The terms allow it to rip open post believed to be a con. Any postal operators working with Royal Mail now also have to com- mit to sharing information about suspected scammers, which some had previously resisted doing.
The measures announced today by Royal Mail go even further – pledging to destroy scams at its major distribution centres, send warnings to addresses that are at risk of being scammed and to intercept letters with cash inside sent by victims to known scammers in Europe so they can be returned.
Royal Mail director Stephen Agar said: ‘Scams are a scourge on our society. Royal Mail is doing all it can to protect our customers from these heartless criminals.’
Business minister Margot James said: ‘I welcome Royal Mail’s latest initiative. We will all continue to ensure that action is taken to stop these scams in their tracks.’